Iranian women, e-learning, and experience of motherhood in the age of COVID-19: An analysis of mothers' lived experience of their children's e-learning

The present study aimed to explore the lived experience of Iranian mothers about the process of e-learning for their children by way of a qualitative approach and phenomenological study. Semi-structured telephone interviews were held with 28 mothers residing in Tehran (the capital of Iran) in the second half of 2021. Maximum variation sampling was carried out to recruit a variety of interviewees, and theoretical sampling was performed to reach conceptual saturation. The interview data were encoded by thematic analysis. The themes were classified into the three categories of basic, organizing, and global themes. The research findings showed that Iranian mothers have been faced with multiple challenges, burdens, and inequalities with respect to their children's e-learning during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Family-centered and mother-centered e-learning, motherhood at the intersection of multiple identities, mothers' multiple fears and concerns, and gender inequality in parental duties constituted a major part of the lived experience of Iranian mothers during the pandemic. In total, the findings showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the multiple responsibilities of women, especially about their children, and has delegated a double burden of education responsibilities to mothers.

Government response to COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria: identifying key issues over rollout from a public perspective

There are concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine's safety, reliability, and efficacy. Previous studies on vaccine hesitancy focused on public perception and factors influencing behavior but little is known about how government response affects acceptance and distribution efforts. Consequently, the present study is focused on providing answers to the question regarding the challenges induced by the Nigerian governments' response to the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and acceptance process. Utilizing an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), Findings showed that even though there are strategies designed to ensure effective rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines to the target populations, the plans are not well laid out. Corruption risks and facility deficiency are the likely problems that might affect efficient COVID-19 vaccine equitable distribution to the target groups. The findings' practical implications indicate that the Nigerian government and other stakeholders ought to make improvements in a number of areas to enable a successful and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. This entails enhancing the online registration process, enhancing communication techniques, tackling corruption threats, assuring a steady supply of electricity, and providing employees with the necessary tools and training. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of African Identities is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Augmented Spaces: Introducing a Technology-Supported Home Environment to Improve our Mental Health during "Work from Home” Isolation

During the COVID-19 pandemic many restrictions were implemented to prevent the spread of the disease. These restrictions included working from home (WFH) and self-isolation. However, this situation had a negative impact on our mental health, causing depression and anxiety in many employees around the world. In this context, we hypothesized that our home spaces could become a catalyst of positive emotions through the use of technology-supported home environments, which use cyber-physical systems to reduce mental health symptoms during the lockdown. We used a qualitative approach, through interviews and cultural probes, to understand the experience of people who were forced to work from home during the lockdown. Additionally, we used a design science approach to explore technology-supported solutions that could enhance our home spaces. The result is a system that mixes analog and digital elements to create interactive rooms, which have a positive impact on people's well-being. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

E-Education Application Using Flutter: Concepts and Methods

In this fast-paced world, education is the passport to a better future, as tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. This research aims to bridge the gap between tutees and tutors. It also aims to develop the mind of tutees in order to shape their future character, calibre, and character. COVID-19 has altered our perspective regarding education;based on our research, illiteracy is a significant problem in Pakistan. In addition, finding a mentor with the right skills, experience, and reliability is the most challenging aspect of finding mentorship for yourself or your children. Our in-person and online survey analysis revealed that peer tutoring allows for higher student response rates and feedback, leading to better academic achievement. In addition, it provides students with more opportunities to practice specific skills, which leads to higher retention rates. With the help of the peer-Tutoring concept, when a student teaches another student a topic, it also helps the tutor and tutee gain a deeper understanding of it. There is a positive impact on education in Pakistan because of peer tutoring. As a result, we incorporate this approach into the application to provide tutees with an education and the idea of training their minds to think from tutors who have more experience and knowledge about the relevant field. It would be helpful to identify factors that could make these campaigns more effective with further research. © 2023 IEEE.

Psychological capabilities for salespeople's sustainable work performance in financial services sector

The present study investigated the importance of psychological capabilities to support financial product salespeople in overcoming challenges and sustaining motivation and work performance during and after COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, this study suggests useful ways to develop the psychological capabilities. By using an interpretive phenomenological approach as the methodology, twenty financial product salespeople have been interviewed. The findings reveal that positive mindset, belief-in-oneself and not-giving-up are crucial psychological capabilities for salespeople's sustainable work performance. These psychological capabilities match with the elements in the Psychological Capital Model. Positive mindset is associated with hope and optimism;belief-in-oneself is associated with self-efficacy, and not-giving-up is associated with resilience. The study also found approaches that help develop these psychological elements, including being proactive in seeking help and guidance, setting personal goal, and continuous learning. The findings contribute to the financial services and sales literature by providing a better understanding of how psychological capabilities help motivate financial product salespeople toward positive and sustainable work outcomes, and the ways to develop the psychological capabilities. © 2023, The Author(s).

Distance Learning in Nursing Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Psychosocial Impact for the Greek Nursing Students-A Qualitative Approach.

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic posed a major threat to global health and on the educational field. The purpose of this study is to identify and illustrate the psychosocial adaptation of nursing students to the sudden and exclusive application of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) Methods: A qualitative interview research has been designed. Two focus groups of seven members each and six individual interviews were conducted in a sample of undergraduate nursing students in Greece from 3 March 2021, to 9 April 2021.; (3) Results: A qualitative thematic analysis of the data identified six themes: 1. Challenges; 2. Concerns; 3. Social changes; 4. Negative Emotions; 5. Evaluation; and 6. Teaching strategies.; (4) Conclusions: During its implementation, it identified gaps and weaknesses in the entire academic community. The study of the psychosocial adaptation of the academic community is considered crucial, as it can highlight the individual difficulties in distance learning and contribute to the improvement of the methods of its the improvement of its methods.

The impact of a pandemic on knowledge sharing behavior: a COR perspective: Very Informal Newsletter on Library Automation

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to look at the attitudes of the employees in terms of sharing knowledge during COVID-19 in an online environment and the various difficulties associated and to analyze knowledge sharing (KS) in a virtual office setting, using the conservation of resources theory.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was used by conducting face-to-face interviews online through GoogleMeet, Skype and Zoom. A total of 34 interviews from 14 multinational companies (or their subsidiaries), in a supervisory role, were conducted for the study. A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the responses.FindingsDuring a crisis, the tendency of employees to share knowledge at the individual, team and organizational level increases and is interlinked. The results of this study suggest that during the initial phases of lockdown, the creativity levels among employees were high;however, as the work from the office got postponed because of extended lockdowns, the creativity level of employees saw a dip. Furthermore, the findings of this study also highlighted that KS in remotely located teams was found to be dependent on the extent to which the team members knew each other, such that known teams were in a better position to share knowledge than a newly formed team with unknown or less known members.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has 34 respondents which is an acceptable number for a qualitative inquiry. However, the number of industries could be increased for generalization purposes. Responses were collected from a group of knowledge workers who were willing to correspond digitally, using social media channels of the authors, such as Linkedin. Responses collected personally could provide different results.Practical implicationsThis study provides insights into visible change in organizational processes. The conceptual model developed in this study has several implications which will help chief knowledge officers to understand why the various individual, team and organizational factors lead to KS, particularly with respect to COVID-19.Originality/valueThis study has explored a contemporary phenomenon – KS during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in an online environment. This study depicts the extant literature on knowledge management during a pandemic, thus bridging the scholarly gap. This study tried to bring in a broader perspective by selecting respondents across continents, domains and varied age groups. Fourth, most studies analyzing KS/knowledge hiding in the extant literature, especially during the pandemic, have followed a quantitative approach. This study followed a qualitative approach to gain insights into the KS of the firm and the thoughts and practicalities behind it.

A taxonomy proposal of cyber threats involving children and adolescents

This exploratory research with a qualitative approach retrieves recent prominent threats involving children and adolescents on the internet during Covid-19 pandemic by searching occurrences on the digital journalistic production for a systematic review on news articles and blogs indexed by online databases. We found 45 cyber threats and classified them based on scientific literature. After, we proposed a taxonomy to help to identify, report and treat the occurrences and improve cybersecurity and cyber safety. This taxonomy aims to be a contribution to education in the post-pandemic world. © 2022 IEEE.

Shifting From Onsite to Online Summative Assessment at the University of South Africa

The discourse around online summative assessment has become one of the major issues in open distance learning (ODL) worldwide. There is a lack of major research in online summative assessment in environmental education (EE) module for the bachelor of education (B.Ed.) students in ODL. The purpose of this study was to explore online summative assessment of EE module for the B.Ed. students at the University of South Africa (UNISA) during COVID-19. This study employed a qualitative approach, purposive sampling, and an interpretive paradigm. Data were ethically collected using participant observation and documentation. It was thematically analysed. Online summative assessment policies were in place before the outbreak of COVID-19, but policies were not implemented. The university quickly transitioned from face-to-face to online summative assessment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and lecturers were trained. Challenges included non-training of students for online summative assessment, corrupt answer books, lack of prompt response from ICT specialist, and connectivity problems.

The Influence of COVID-19 on the Management Styles of ODeL Teacher Education Managers and Their Response to Supporting and Managing Staff in Crisis Times

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting national lockdown considerably impacted the institutional operations, in particular, those of an Open Distance e-Learning (ODeL) University in South Africa. These crisis times significantly challenged managers at an ODeL teacher education college to find innovative ways of successfully managing their staff in working remotely. This exploratory, interpretivist phenomenological study was employed to explore teacher education managers' (TEMs') point of view of the crisis and consciousness as lived experiences managing staff working remotely during the pandemic. This study is underpinned by the theory of crisis leadership and ubuntu management style. One major finding revealed that the pandemic influenced and altered the management styles of TEMs and their response in managing staff during unprecedented times of a global crisis with no formal training in undertaking this mammoth task. Managers pioneered new ways of supporting staff working remotely during times of crisis. Based on this finding, a professional development seminar could be developed for managers to empower them to become versatile and resilient in times of crisis. Further research needs to be undertaken to determine, through a mixed-methods design, how TEMs employed stress management techniques for staff working remotely, which may yield different results. © Common Ground Research Networks, Christy Jean Kotze, Michael Moos van Wyk, All Rights Reserved.

Use of ICTs for Teaching-learning Oral Communication During the Pandemic

In this study, the main objective is to systematize a teaching experience in the development of oral communication competence with the use of ICTs. This study applied a qualitative approach, documentary in scope, and is structured based on the method of systematization of educational experience. Two techniques were used: documentary review and reconstruction of experience from memory. The results on the course improvements were promising: 89.48% of students were satisfied with the applied proposal and 92.95% with teaching performance. We conclude that including ICT in the teaching-learning process facilitates the development of oral competence in university students and requires the active participation of the instructor. © 2022 IEEE.

The responsiveness of teacher education managers at an ODeL College to resilience and the well-being of staffworking from home during COVID-19

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has increased anxiety and stress among teacher education managers and has given rise to the question of whether they have the competencies to execute their operational responsibilities productively. The theories of resilience and transformational leadership underpin this study in which teacher education managers' resilience and their responsiveness to the well-being of staff executing their operational practices in an open distance e-learning context were explored. A qualitative approach was adopted and virtual video conferencing interviews with teacher education managers were used to explore how they mitigated their strategic and operational roles and their managerial functions to ensure the well-being and organisational performance of staff working from home. Results revealed the experiences of distance managers to have been positive in that they implemented organisational strategies to mitigate the challenges faced to ensure wellness and performance among staff working from a distance. Further research applying a mixed-method design should be undertaken to determine how resilient managers and staff working from home are. That may yield different results. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Collegiate Athletic Trainers' Experiences Implementing Return to Sports Policies and Procedures During COVID-19: A Qualitative Research Study.

CONTEXT: Athletic trainers were critical personnel in the development of policies and procedures for safe return to campus and resumption of sport during the 2021-21 academic year. Policies focused on preventing potential spread, as well as screening, testing, and management of cases, however, it is unknown what aspects of implementation were successful or more challenging. OBJECTIVE: To determine successes and challenges in the implementation of their return-to- sport policies and procedures during the 2020-2021 academic year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: Qualitative. SETTING: NCAA Division I, II, and III. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: 27 athletic trainers (female N=9, 33.3%, mean age: 48.5±9.8 20 years, mean years of experience: 25.0±10.5 years), who were in positions of leadership or who 21 were actively involved in developing and then implementing COVID-19 return to sport policies 22 and procedures completed Zoom interviews. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Semi-structured Zoom interviews were audio and video recorded and later transcribed. Data were analyzed by a team of four experienced researchers using the consensual qualitative research approach. Field notes, intercoder reliability, and multiple analyst triangulation were used to establish data credibility. RESULTS: Emerging themes included: implementation of public health interventions, inter-professional collaboration, and advancing the profession of athletic training. Participants described establishing and strengthening collaborations with other healthcare professionals as well as key stakeholders on campus as a positive outcome of the pandemic, but variation in policies between institutions and states made policy communication and enforcement more challenging. CONCLUSIONS: ATs played a pivotal role in policy development, communication, and enforcement. Overall participants took pride in serving as healthcare leaders for their universities and opening the eyes of colleagues to the breadth of the athletic training skillsets.

Virtual and Hybrid Classes as The Challenge Assumed During The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An Interdisciplinary Qualitative Approach

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic forced educational institutions worldwide to deploy virtual and hybrid classes as a unique option to continue with the teaching-learning process. However, these modalities imply important efforts on the part of teachers, students, and administrative staff to ensure the teaching-learning process quality. Considering the above, this research work carries out a qualitative interdisciplinary analysis using the focus group technique intending to determine the perceptions, challenges, trends, and trade-offs of the virtual and hybrid modalities during and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Our analysis involves various disciplines (e.g., pedagogical and andragogical, social-economic, ergonomic, educational technology, and product & service innovation perspectives). As a result, some particular findings of each perspective are shown. The results of this research work can help the body of technical knowledge related to the curricula design at different educational levels to increase the efficiency of hybrid and virtual classes. Finally, this research work has some limitations, therefore the findings presented are suggestive rather than definitive. © 2022 IEEE.

Researchers' Perception of MOOCs: An Indian Case Study

Massive open online courses have gained popularity during the coronavirus induced lockdown. In India educational institutions have been working online since last fifteen months. During this time research scholar enrolled in higher educational institution have taken MOOC course to augment knowledge. This study is an attempt to understand the researchers' perception of MOOCs. It uses the qualitative approach to understand the experience of learning with MOOCs, especially during the pandemic. It outlines the ways in which researchers benefited by taking MOOCs while highlighting their grievances. This study also has a lot of implications for the researchers and facilitators of MOOCs as it points at the lacunae in the application of their products which once rectified will help them yield desired results. © 2022 IEEE.

Explaining Faculty Members’ Perceptions of Virtual Learning Based on Various Types of Educational Interactions During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Background: Given that interaction is a vital element in virtual learning, using the professors’ experiences and perceptions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak can provide useful information about the quality of educational interactions in virtual learning courses in order to improve virtual learning. Objectives: This study aims to explain the perceptions of faculty members of Kerman universities regarding virtual learning based on educational interactions during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This study was conducted with a qualitative content analysis approach in the academic year of 2021 in Kerman University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. The data collection method was semi-structured interviews with 13 professors of these universities who were included in the study using purposive sampling. Data analysis was performed using the qualitative content analysis method according to the steps introduced by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: The results of this study were presented in the form of 4 main themes: 1) Teacher-learner interactions, including the tools used, how they interact, and their barriers;2) Learner-learner interaction, learner-content interaction, and teacher-content interaction, including the professors’ actions to create and increase them;3) Teacher-teacher interactions, including professors’ instructional and research interactions and their barriers;4) Content-content interaction, which the findings indicated that professors did not pay much attention to this type of interaction. Conclusion: Virtual learning is not limited to the COVID-19 outbreak period but can be used as a supplement to face-to-face learning, even when the universities reopen;therefore, valuable experiences of professors of virtual learning can be used to strengthen various types of educational interactions and develop virtual learning in the studied universities and other universities. © 2022, Kerman University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Healthcare Workers' Level of Knowledge and Practices of Using Robotics during Covid-19

The outbreak of the coronavirus created a conventional challenge for the global community due to the lack increased a number of COVID-19 positive patients and stretched healthcare systems. Therefore, the global world starts to look for unconventional approaches and technologies to combat the dissemination of the COVID-19 virus, for example, utilizing Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Using robotics for medical services is facing many challenges that may lead to failure. The most important of these challenges is that the healthcare workers are not trained well on using robotics, don't have enough knowledge, awareness of the importance of using robotics especially during pandemics, and the relatively high cost of robotics. Thus, in this paper, we assess the levels of knowledge, attitude, and practices of healthcare workers about using robotics during pandemics. Further, a quantitative and a qualitative approach using a questionnaire to collect data is used. Over 40 healthcare workers participate, who have a fair background about robots. However, they have no idea about using robots in general and their field in particular. © 2022 IEEE.

The impact of a pandemic on knowledge sharing behavior: a COR perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to look at the attitudes of the employees in terms of sharing knowledge during COVID-19 in an online environment and the various difficulties associated and to analyze knowledge sharing (KS) in a virtual office setting, using the conservation of resources theory. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was used by conducting face-to-face interviews online through GoogleMeet, Skype and Zoom. A total of 34 interviews from 14 multinational companies (or their subsidiaries), in a supervisory role, were conducted for the study. A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the responses. Findings: During a crisis, the tendency of employees to share knowledge at the individual, team and organizational level increases and is interlinked. The results of this study suggest that during the initial phases of lockdown, the creativity levels among employees were high;however, as the work from the office got postponed because of extended lockdowns, the creativity level of employees saw a dip. Furthermore, the findings of this study also highlighted that KS in remotely located teams was found to be dependent on the extent to which the team members knew each other, such that known teams were in a better position to share knowledge than a newly formed team with unknown or less known members. Research limitations/implications: This study has 34 respondents which is an acceptable number for a qualitative inquiry. However, the number of industries could be increased for generalization purposes. Responses were collected from a group of knowledge workers who were willing to correspond digitally, using social media channels of the authors, such as Linkedin. Responses collected personally could provide different results. Practical implications: This study provides insights into visible change in organizational processes. The conceptual model developed in this study has several implications which will help chief knowledge officers to understand why the various individual, team and organizational factors lead to KS, particularly with respect to COVID-19. Originality/value: This study has explored a contemporary phenomenon – KS during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in an online environment. This study depicts the extant literature on knowledge management during a pandemic, thus bridging the scholarly gap. This study tried to bring in a broader perspective by selecting respondents across continents, domains and varied age groups. Fourth, most studies analyzing KS/knowledge hiding in the extant literature, especially during the pandemic, have followed a quantitative approach. This study followed a qualitative approach to gain insights into the KS of the firm and the thoughts and practicalities behind it. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Thankful employees: The manifestation of gratitude at work during a pandemic in South Africa.

Gratitude or the appreciation of being given something of value, is an important element in positive emotions within positive psychology. Gratitude has been linked to wellbeing and gratitude in the workplace is positively associated with constructs such as performance and organizational citizenship behavior. The pandemic brought on many negative experiences but employees could still find things to be grateful for during this time. The purpose of the study was to understand what aspects of work and the organization employees were grateful for during the pandemic. A generic qualitative approach was used. Participants were sourced from various industries in South Africa using purposive sampling. Data were gathered through 21 semi-structured interviews of working people in South Africa. Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis revealed five themes, namely, (1) gratitude for no negative work-life changes; (2) gratitude for a caring workplace; (3) gratitude for a new way of working; (4) gratitude for the ability to put oneself first; and (5) gratitude for having resilience, optimism and spirituality as a psychological buffer. Managers should deliberately engage in behaviors that will bring about gratitude from their employees. Employees should reflect on the positive things at work that they are thankful for as a way of enhancing gratitude and thereby, wellness, performance, and commitment. The study combines existing knowledge on gratitude during the pandemic with gratitude in the workplace.

Development of a Chatbot with NLP for the Prefecture of Los Rios in Ecuador

The coronavirus has prevented face-to-face consultations of procedures in the entities, so Ecuadorian companies have opted to use technological tools to provide smooth service to their customers. Among them is the Chatbot, which allows users to receive personalized attention through a computer. This paper presents the development of a chatbot for the Prefecture of Los Rios in Ecuador. The main objective is to present the development of a chatbot for the attention and management of services offered to citizens of the Prefecture of Los Rios. Direct research for collecting the necessary information and a qualitative approach study for the development of this project involved interviews in learning about the needs and requirements of citizens. The Chatbot Prefectura Los Ríos uses frameworks for natural language processing developed from a Dialog flow tool, resulting in users' acceptance. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.